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Joel 2:30

in Joel 2

I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.

KJV

And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.

This verse in Joel 2

Commentary

15 notes on this verse

A commentator

Basil of Caesarea

HOMILIES ON THE HEXAEMERON 6:4 · Written before 379.

Further, the Lord has announced to us that at the dissolution of the universe, signs will appear in the sun, in the moon and in the stars. The sun shall be turned into blood and the moon shall not give her light, signs of the consummation of all things.

This site's exposition

I will show wonders in the heavens

on Joel 2:30-32

Peter quotes these signs at Pentecost, "blood and fire and columns of smoke". They come "before the coming of the great and awesome Day of the LORD". The promise that "everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved" is quoted at Acts 2:21 and Romans 10:13.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers5 voices

A commentator

Maximus of Turin

SERMON 62:2 · Written before 465.

proposed

The people, then, call this day "the new sun," and although they say that it is new, yet they also show that it is old. This world's sun—which undergoes eclipse, is shut out by walls and is hidden by clouds—I would call old. I would …

A commentator

Eznik of Kolb

ON GOD 315–16 · Written before 449.

proposed

True is the word of Scripture that says, "I will turn the sun into darkness and the moon into blood." It demonstrates that he is the Lord of the luminaries and of their lightening and darkening. This stands as a reproach to the sun worshipers …

A commentator

Cosmas Indicopleustes

The Christian Topography, Book 5 · Written before 550.

proposed

This is Joel the second in order who was privileged to prophesy concerning the mystery of the Lord Christ, for he speaks thus (chap. ii, 28-32): And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your …

A commentator

Cyril of Jerusalem

CATECHETICAL LECTURE 15:3 · Written before 386.

proposed

For just as man is said to perish, according to the text, "The just perishes, and no one takes it to heart," and this is said, though the resurrection is expected, so we look for a resurrection of the heavens. "The sun will be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood." Let the converts from the Manichaeans be instructed and no longer make the luminaries their gods or impiously think that this sun that is darkened is Christ. Listen to the Lord's words: "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away," for the master's creatures are less precious than his words.

A commentator

Jerome

Commentary on Joel · Written before 420.

proposed

(Verse 28 and following) And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh;your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions.Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit.And I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke.The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes.
8 more voices on this verse

The Church Fathers1 voice

A commentator

Theodore of Mopsuestia

COMMENTARY ON JOEL 2:28–32 · Written before 428.

proposed

Blessed Peter used this text in speaking to Jews on the occasion of the descent of the Holy Spirit. And rightly so, since the law contained a shadow of all things to come, whereas the people were granted care owing to the expectation of what …

The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

Wonders - They who read what historians report of these times, will see this fulfilled in the very letter. Blood - Possibly eruption of blood, as some fountains have been reported to have run with blood, prefiguring the great effusion of blood by the sword, and wars following.

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

There is a great and terrible day of the Lord coming, which shall be ushered in with wonders in heaven and earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke, the turning of the sun into darkness and the moon into blood. This is to have its full accomplishment (as the learned Dr. Pocock thinks) in the day of judgment, at the end of time, before whic

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

Here we have God contending with his own professing people for their sins and executing upon them the judgment written in the law ( Deut. xxviii. 42 ), The fruit of thy land shall the locust consume, which was one of those diseases of Egypt that God would bring upon them, v. 60 . Here is the war proclaimed (

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And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth,....

The Nineteenth Century3 voices

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

Wonders in the heavens and in the earth - This refers to those dreadful sights, dreadful portents, and destructive commotion, by which the Jewish polity was finally overthrown, and the Christian religion established in the Roman empire. See how our Lord applies this prophecy, Mat 24:29 (note), and the parallel texts.

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

As Messiah's manifestation is full of joy to believers, so it has an aspect of wrath to unbelievers, which is represented here. Thus when the Jews received Him not in His coming of grace, He came in judgment on Jerusalem.
And I will shew wonders - Each revelation of God prepares the way for another, until that last revelation of His love and of His wrath in the Great Day. In delivering His people from Egypt, “the Lord shewed signs and wonders, great and sore, upon Egypt Deu 6:22. Here, in allusion to it, He says, in the same words, of the new revelation, “I will shew,” or “give, wonders, or wondrous signs,” (as the word includes both) wonders beyond the course and order of nature, and portending other dispensations of God, of joy to His faithful, terror to His enemies. As when Israel came out of Egypt, “the pillar of the cloud was a cloud and darkness to the camp of the Egyptians,” but “gave light by night” to the “camp of Israel” Exo 14:19-20, so all God’s workings are light and darkness at once, according as people are, who see them or to whom they come. These wonders in heaven and earth “began in” the First Coming and “Passion of Christ, grew in the destruction of Jerusalem, but shall be perfectly fulfilled toward the end of the world, before the final Judgment, and the destruction of the Universe.” At the birth of Christ, there was “the star” which appeared unto the wise men, “and the multitude of the heavenly host,” whom the shepherds saw. At His Atoning Death, “the sun was darkened,” there was the three hours’ darkness over the whole land; and on earth “the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom, and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent, and the graves were opened” Luk 23:44-45; Mat 27:45, Mat 27:51-52: and the Blood and water issued from the Saviour’s side. After His Resurrection, there was the vision of Angels, terrible to the soldiers who watched the sepulchre, comforting to the women who sought to honor Jesus. His Resurrection was a sign on earth, His Ascension in earth and heaven. […]

The words behind it

8 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וְנָֽתַתִּי֙and I will put

    venatatiH5414 →2011 times

  • מֽוֹפְתִ֔יםwonders

    moftimH4159 →

  • בַּשָּׁמַ֖יִםin the heavens

    bashamayimH8064 →421 times

  • וּבָאָ֑רֶץand on the earth

    uvaaretzH776 →2504 times

  • דָּ֣םblood

    damH1818 →360 times

  • וָאֵ֔שׁand fire

    vaeshH784 →378 times

  • וְתִֽימֲר֖וֹתand columns of

    vetimarotH8490 →

  • עָשָֽׁן׃smoke

    ʾashanH6227 →

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Matthew 24:29

    Immediately after the tribulation of those days: ‘The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will…

    it leads to

    • Amos 8:9

      And in that day, declares the Lord GOD, I will make the sun go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the daytime.

    • Joel 3:15

      The sun and moon will grow dark, and the stars will no longer shine.

    • Isaiah 13:10

      For the stars of heaven and their constellations will not give their light. The rising sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light.

    • Mark 13:24–25

      But in those days, after that tribulation: ‘The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light;

    • Isaiah 24:23

      The moon will be confounded and the sun will be ashamed; for the LORD of Hosts will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and before His elders with great glory.

  • Through

    Judges 20:40

    But when the column of smoke began to go up from the city, the Benjamites looked behind them and saw the whole city going up in smoke.

    it leads to

    • Joshua 8:20

      When the men of Ai turned and looked back, the smoke of the city was rising into the sky. They could not escape in any direction, and the troops who had fled to the…

  • Through

    Luke 21:11

    There will be great earthquakes, famines, and pestilences in various places, along with fearful sights and great signs from heaven.

    it leads to

    • Matthew 24:29–30

      Immediately after the tribulation of those days: ‘The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will…

    • Luke 21:25–27

      There will be signs in the sun and moon and stars, and on the earth dismay among the nations, bewildered by the roaring of the sea and the surging of the waves.

Where this verse is studied

About Joel

Joel, James Tissot, 1902. Public domain.
Joel, James Tissot, 1902. Public domain.
This page draws on 15 works. Open the list of works

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Basil of Caesarea, HOMILIES ON THE HEXAEMERON 6:4; Carl Friedrich Keil, The Twelve Minor Prophets; Cosmas Indicopleustes, The Christian Topography, Book 5; Cyril of Jerusalem, CATECHETICAL LECTURE 15:3; Eznik of Kolb, ON GOD 315–16; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Joel; John Calvin, Commentaries on the Twelve Minor Prophets; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Maximus of Turin, SERMON 62:2 and Theodore of Mopsuestia, COMMENTARY ON JOEL 2:28–32.